Automatic pipe-coupling.



PATENTE D OCT. 20, 1903..

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I Q m mmlr I mm P. NIEDERLANDER. AUTOMATIC PIPE COUPLING.

APPLICATION FILED 0013.16. 1900.

N0 MODEL.

No. 741,699. PATENTED 0013.20, 1903. N. F. NIEDERLANDER.

AUTOMATIC PIPE COUPLING.

APPLICATION FILED 0OT.16. 1900.

7 NO MODEL. 2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

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No. 741,699. Patented October 20, 1903.

UNIT D STATES PATENT OFFICE.-

NICHOLAS F. NIEDERI;ANDER, OF ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI, ASSIGNOR TO WEST-INGHOUSE AUTOMATIC AIR & STEAM COUPLER COMPANY, OF EAST ST. LOUIS,ILLINOIS, A CORPORATION OF ILLINOIS.

AUTOMATIC PIPE-COUPLING.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent N 0. 741,699, dated October20, 1903. Application filed October 16, 1900. Serielllo.33,228. (Nomodel.)

T at whom it may concern: spring-hanger, and 4 is a horizontal sec- Beit known that I, NICHOLAS F. NIEDER- tion taken on the line y y of Fig.3. .LANDER, a citizen of the United States, resid- My presentinventionis in the nature of an ing at St. Louis, in the State of Missouri,improvement on the automatic pipe-coupling have invented or discovered'acertain new device shown in my Patents No. 582,672, of 55 and usefulImprovement in Automatic Pipe- May 18, 1897, and No. 649,472, of May 15,Couplings for Cars, of which improvement 1900, and the construction ofthe half-sections the following is a specification. V or shoes issimilar to that shown in the pat- My invention relates to automaticpipeents referred to. to couplings for railway-cars, and has for its ob-Each of the half-sections 1 and 2 of the au- 6c ject to provide animproved form of coupling tomatic pipe-coupling, as shown in Figs. 1 andin which the two half-sections of the pipe- 2, is a duplicate of theother, and consists of coupling on the adjacent ends of the cars will acasting or shoe 3, with a passage 4 formed be automatically coupled whenthe cars come through it, which is adapted to be connected :5 togetherand also in which the coupling may to a section of pipe on the car bymeans of a 65 be readily made by hand in case the adjacent nozzle 5, andwhich are adapted to register end of one of the cars is provided onlywith the with and open into each other when the two old form ofhand-operatedhose-pipe coupling. faces of the half-sections are inengagement As at the present time most of the railwayand the two partscoupled together. In the cars are provided only with the ordinarydrawings I haveshown only one such opens 70.

hand-operated hose-pipe coupling, it is deing through each of thehalf-sections, which sirable that any automatic pipe-couplingdemay-connect with the train pipe of the airvice which is to beintroduced shall be probrake system but it is obvious that two or videdwith means whereby it may also be more openings may be employed, ifdesired, coupled with an ordinary hose-pipe coupling. to connect withthetrain-pipes of the signal 7 My invention therefore consists in imandheating systems. Each of the half-secproved means for connecting thetrain-pipe tions is provided with the inclined facet, the with theautomatic coupling-head or half-secmeeting face 7, the inclined wings8,-and the tion, whereby the coupling may be made by curved spring 9,which passes through the hand with the ordinary hose-pipe coupling ofopening 10 in the hanger 11. As thus far an adjacent car orautomatically when both described mypresentinvention does notdifferadjacent ends of the cars are provided with materially from theconstruction shown in my improved automatic pipe-coupling secmy patentsalready referred to. Into thetions. nozzle 5 is screwed the shortsection of pipe 55 It also consists in an improved form of ad- 12, whichat its outer end is provided with an justable spring-hanger foryieldingly supordinary hand-couplingsectionlS. The trainporting thehalf-section of the automatic pipepipe 14 of the air-brake system withits anglecoupling device in position and in certain cook 15 are attachedto a short flexible hose combinations and features of construction,section, 16 which is provided with a coupling 0 all as hereinafter setforth. 17 and adapted to be readily coupled with or 0 In theaccompanying drawings, Figure l is uncoupled from the coupling 13 of thepipea perspective view showing the adjacent ends section 12. of two carsslightly separated, with my im- In Fig. 1 of the drawings I have shownthe proved automatic pipe-coupling devices attrain-pipe 14 located onthe'opposite side of 45 tached thereto. Fig. 2 is a horizontal sectionthe end of the car from that which it is ordiof one of the half-sectionsor shoes and of the narily located. By this means, only a short hanger,taken on the line 00 0c of Fig. 3, the length of flexible pipe isnecessary to connect short pipe-section connected to the shoe bethetrain-pipe with the short pipe-section 12. ing shown in plain view. Fig.3 is a side ele- If desired, however, the train-pipe may be 50 vation ofmy improved form of adjustable located on the other side andalongerflexible Ioo pipesection used to connect it with the pipesection 12. Thetrain-pipe and connections therefrom to the shoe of the automaticpipecoupling do not show in the right-hand part of Fig. 1, the viewbeing taken at such an angle that these parts are located behind thecoupling members.

Upon the end of the car shown at the right in Fig. 1 I have indicated indotted lines the ordinary train-pipe 18, angle-cock 19, hose 20, andcoupling 21, which may be readily coupled by hand with the coupling 17of hose 16 in case one of the cars is not provided with an automaticpipe-coupling device.

My improved hanger 11, as shown more in detail in Figs. 2, 3, and 4.,comprises a casting having an opening 10, in which the curved spring 9of the half-section is supported, and also having a hollow cylindricalportion 22, in which the spring-buffer 23 is located. This buffer .23 iscup-shaped and has an arm 24-, which is pivoted at 25 in a hollow upwardextension of the cylindrical portion 22. In the hollow cylindricalportion is located the volute spring 26, which extends into thecupshaped buffer 23, where it is provided with a cap 27, which bearsagainst the inner wall of the buffer. The spring-bn [fer normally holdsthe curved spring 9 of the half-section against the forward part of thehanger in the opening 10, but at the same time allows same to yieldduring the act of coupling and to move about sufficiently to accommodateitself to the motion of the cars while running. The hangers aresuspended by means of the brackets 28 from the car-couplers 29 and aresecured to the brackets by bolts 30, which pass through the elongatedholes or slots 31 in the upper part of the hanger. By this means theposition of the hanger may be adjusted forward or backward, and in orderto secure the hanger in position the face of the upper part or head 32of the hanger, which is clamped against the bracket, is provided with aroughened surface, such as a series of grooves or corrugations 88, asshown more clearly in Fig. st. In this way the hanger is securely heldagainst displacement. The half-section of the automatic pipe-couplingalso has attached thereto a chain 35, which is suspended from the outerend of the arm 34, the arm being secured to the bracket 26.

It will thus be seen that my improved automatic pipe-coupling may beadjusted to any position and that the air-pipes of cars provided with myimprovement may be automatically coupled and uncoupled, while at thesame time if any one of the adjacent cars is not provided with anautomatic pipe-coupling the pipes may be readily coupled by hand.

Having now fully described my invention,

what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. In an automatic pipe-coupling device for cars, the combination withthe half-section of the automatic coupling, of the trainpipe on the car,and an intermediate pipe connection adapted to be detached from thehalf-section of the automatic coupling and connected to thehose-coupling of an adjacent car.

2. In an automatic pipe-coupling device for cars, the combination withthe half-section of the automatic coupling, of detachable meansconnected to the train-pipe and adapted to be connected either with thehalf-section of the automatic pipe-coupling of the same car or with theordinary hose-coupling of an adjacent car.

3. An automatic pipe-coupling device for cars comprising, a half-sectionor shoe of the automatic coupling, and a detachable pipe connected atone end to the train-pipe and adapted to be connected at its other endeither with the half-section of the automatic pipe-coupling of the samecar or with the hosecoupling of an adjacent car.

4. An automatic pipe-coupling device for cars comprising, ayieldingly-supported halfsection or shoe, a short pipe-section connectedto the shoe and provided with a hand-op-,

erated coupling member, a flexible pipe attached to the train-pipe ofthe car and having at its end a coupling whereby it may be coupledeither with the pipe-section of the shoe or with a hose of an adjacentcar.

5. In an automatic pipe-coupling device for cars, the combination with ahalf-section of the automatic pipecoupling suspended beneath thecar-coupling, of a train-pipe on the car, and anintermediate detachablepipe connection adapted to couple the train-pipe either with thehalf-section of the automatic coupling of the car or with thehose-coupling of an adjacent car.

6. A hanger for an automatic train-pipecoupling device comprising, acasting having an opening therein, a cup-shaped buffet-having an armpivoted in said opening and a vo- In testimony whereof I have hereuntoset my hand.

NICHOLAS F. NIEDERLANDER.

\Vitnesses:

O. C. ZIEGLER, JOHN R. WILLIAMS.

